The Platte County Citizen

In a pair of high-scoring contests, Park Hill swept the visiting Fort Osage Indians in a doubleheader at Park Hill High School on Saturday, April 28.

The Trojans scored at least 15 runs in each contest and the two teams put up a combined 51 runs in the two contests which saw Park Hill win 15-12 and 17-7 in five innings.

The Trojans were down 8-7 going into the bottom of the sixth in the opening when an 8-run frame gave them the boosted they needed for a win.

Arkansas signee Liam Henry hit a three-run double in the frame to give the Trojans the lead for good. He scored on an error and Ayden Mertz stole home to make it 12-8. Tavien Josenberger singled in his second at-bat to drive in a run and Ryan Lack’s two-run single it 15-8.

Park Hill senior Liam Henry lines a pitch in the Trojans’ doubleheader vs. Fort Osage on Saturday,. April 28 at Park Hill High School in Kansas City, Mo. The Trojans swept the twinbill with 32 combined runs.

Fort Osage brought the tying run to the plate in the top half of the inning but Cameron Knight got a strikeout to end it.

Blake Morrow had two two-run triples for the Trojans. Josenberger and Henry both had three hits for Park Hill.

The Indians went up 3-0 in the top of the second but Park Hill scored nine runs in the bottom half of the inning and needed only to bat two more times to pick up the victory.

A hit by pitch and two walks loaded the bases and set up Corey Bradford’s three-run double to tie the game in the bottom of the second for Park Hill. A balk by Fort Osage with one out moved runners to second and third and then things unraveled for the visitors.

Joe Daneff walked. Zayne Morrow was hit by a pitch to force in a run and Grant Mertz singled to make it 5-3. Henry doubled in his second at-bat to bring home two runs and wild pitches brought home two more runs. Zayne Morrow hit a two-run inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the third, pushing the Trojans’ lead to 11-4.

Fort Osage pulled within 11-7 but in the bottom of the fourth the Trojans scored six insurance runs. Henry hit a three-run inside-the-park home run, while Mertz singled in two runs. He finished with a team-high three hits in the win.

Chandler Ashby fanned six in 4 2/3 innings to earn the win for Park Hill.

Kearney 10Park Hill South 6

The Panthers were swept in a twinbill on Saturday, April 28, playing at Kearney High School.

In the opener against the Titans, the Panthers had single runs in the second and sixth innings. In the second Jackson Dixon doubled and scored on Kriss Davis’ RBI groundout.

The Titans had solo home runs from Cade Clemons and Jake Grauberger to take the lead in the second.

Lee’s Summit West led 6-1 by the time the Panther scored again. Malik Stevenson doubled and came home an error for Park Hill South, which was limited to five hits.

In the second game, Park Hill South led in the top of the sixth, but gave up seven runs on four hits in the bottom of the sixth.

The Panthers got RBIs from Stevenson, Davis and Dixon in the first, but the Bulldogs tied the game at three in the fourth. Davis added another RBI in the sixth that gave Park Hill South a 4-3 lead.

The bottom of the sixth included a three-run double by Grant Nicholson for the Bulldogs. There were only two more RBI in the frame that featured four walks and two errors.

The Panthers used four pitchers in the setback.

Liberty 1Park Hill South 0

The Blue Jays scored a run in the top of the seventh to snap a pitcher’s duel on Friday, April 27, at Park Hill South High School.

Drew Mackie had a leadoff single for Liberty but he got picked off first base. Hunter Evans doubled with two outs and scored on Jordan Carlson’s single to make it 1-0.

Going into the seventh inning, the Blue Jays didn’t have a hit against Park Hill South.

Logan Steenstra, whose father Kennie pitched for the Cubs in 1998, retired the Panthers in order in the bottom of the seventh to secure the win for Liberty. He struck out six and gave up for hits.

Collin Brougham got the loss and gave up a run for the first time all season for Park Hill South. He went 6 2/3 innings and struck out four.

Park Hill South had a runner at third base in the first, fourth and sixth inning — the latter had a runner thrown out at home in the scoreless game.

Park Hill 7Blue Springs South 5

The Trojans picked up a Suburban Conference Gold Division win on Thursday, April 26, with a six-run rally in the final inning.

The Jaguars went up 1-0 early, but the Trojans tied the game in the third inning on Grant Mertz’s bases-loaded walk.

Blue Spring South — ranked No. 5 in Class 5 — went up 2-1 in the fourth and pushed the lead to 5-1 in the fifth inning.

The big inning for the Trojans started with the first three batters reaching safely. Brent Balusek and Ben Zahnd both singled and Liam Henry was hit by a pitch, but two quick outs followed.

Ryan Kiser had a pinch hit RBI single and Mertz singled to bring home two runs, pulling the Trojans within one. Ryan Lack singled to tie the game and Corey Bradford singled to give Park Hill the lead for the first time. Lack then scored an insurance run on a wild pitch.

The Jaguars had the tying run at second base with two outs.

Max Pitts earned the save for Park Hill, while Balusek got the win by pitching 1 1/3 innings of relief.

Park Hill 17Lee’s Summit North 16

In a game that had a final score resembling more of a defensive battle, the Trojans withstood a late rally by the Broncos to pick up a win in Suburban Conference Gold play on Friday, April 27, at Park Hill High School.

Down 17-11, the Broncos scored five runs in the top of the seventh and had the tying run at second base when the game ended on a strikeout by Jake Panich, who came in with no outs on the board. He gave up a pair of runs on grounds outs — that were charged to Brent Balusek — but Panich got the strikeout when it was needed the most.

The teams combined for 29 hits and plenty of runs.

Lee’s Summit North went up 7-0 in the top of the first only to have Park Hill score six in the bottom half of the frame.

Ryan Lack hit a three-run homer, before Liam Henry hit a three-run shot as well to help the Trojans rally. They went up 10-7 in the bottom of the second and expanded the lead to 12-7 in the third. Henry had a two-run double in the second, while Lack had RBI in the second (double) and third (single).

The lead was cut to 12-11 in the top of the fifth, but five unanswered aided the Trojans.

Corey Bradford and Lack each had three hits, while Grant Mertz, Riley Putnam and Henry had two for the Trojans, which had 15 hits.

Joe Daneff struck out seven in four innings of relief work to earn the win.

Park Hill South 11Truman 4

The winning streak reached three in a row with a Suburban Conference Red win on Thursday, April 26, in Independence, Mo.

Park Hill South score at least one run in each of the first five inning to build a 9-1 lead.

Jackson Dixon and Stephen Personelli had RBI singles in the first to help the Panthers take a 3-0 lead and Billy Eggers (single) and Domnic Scudiero (double) made it 5-0 in the second inning. Personelli added another RBI in the fourth, while errors brought in two more to make it 9-1.

Dixon, who had a team-high three hits, added a second RBI with a single in the fifth.

Three of the Patriots’ four runs came on home runs. Nate Camby had a solo homer in the fourth and Nick Wheeler hit a two-run blast in the fifth.

The Beuerleins pitched for Park Hill South. Sam went the first five innings fanning seven, while Jack threw the final two innings and struck out three.

Park Hill South 12Raytown 2

The Panthers posted a run-rule victory in a nearly a full seven innings on Monday, April 23, on the road.

Park Hill South built a 4-0 lead after two innings on two sac flies — by Jackson Dixon and Alex Rodriguez — while getting two more runs on errors. After Raytown pulled within three, the Panthers scored eight runs over the final three innings.

Kriss Davis had an RBI double in the fifth and Billy Eggers tripled home a run in the sixth. Three runs in the seventh ended the game with two outs on the board when Xavier Hammond scored the game-winning run.

The Panthers had 12 hits — two each from Hammond, Malik Stevenson, Rodriguez and Jack Beuerlein.

Will Fricker struck out eight in five innings to earn the win for the Panthers.

Lee’s Summit 2Park Hill 1, 8 innings

The Tigers got a run in the top of the eighth to pull out a Suburban Conference Gold victory on Monday, April 23, at Park Hill High School.

A single and an error set the stage for the Tigers for Gabe Howayek’s RBI fielder’s choice. He hit the ball back to Chandler Ashby on the mound, who threw home to Blake Morrow. Michael Edgear beat the tag to give Lee’s Summit — ranked No. 6 in Class 5 — the lead.

Gabe Combs retired the Trojans in order in the bottom of the eighth to pick up the win and complete game. He struck out 11 and gave up only one hit.

Ashby went the distance for Park Hill, striking out four and not giving up an earned run.

Riley Putnam doubled in the fifth and scored on an error for the lone run for Park Hill.